Wire support



Jan. 5, 1943'. E. 1.. KLI NGEL 2,307,277

WIRE SUPPORT Filed June a, 1941 Edward L. mingel Patented Jan. 5, 1943UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIRE SUPPORT Edward L. Klingel, St. Paul,Minn.

Application June 6, 1941, Serial No. 396,807

8 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in wire supports particularly,though not exclusively, for use in the telephone industry.

In making telephone service connections, parallel drop-wire, so-called,is commonly employed and in the use of such Wire, it is desirable toprovide supports therefor which have insulating properties renderingthem incapable of shorting the companion conduits of the parallel wire,should they become exposed through their insulating coverings.

It is further desirable to provide supports, as above, which, by virtueof their construction, prevent the slippage of the supported wirerelative thereto, whereby the costly use of tie-wires for such purposeis avoided and, likewise, the accompanying danger of shorting thecompanion conduits of the parallel wire by the tie-wire as a result ofthe one cutting through the insulating covering of the other.

In accord with said disiderata, it is an object of my present inventionto provide a simple, durable, compact, relatively inexpensive andsightly wire support, in itself an electrical insulator, adapted readilyto be installed on a building, pole or other support and to which awire, with all undue slack eliminated therefrom, may be quickly andeasily attached securely against slippage, without the use of anadditional tiewire or the like.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination andarrangement of parts and in. the details of construction hereinafterillustrated and/or described.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a wire supportconstructed in embodiment of my present invention; Fig. 2 is a frontview of the support shown in Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are top and bottomviews, respectively, of said support as shown in said Fig. 1; Figs. 5, 6and 7 are sectional views taken, respectively, as on the line -5 of Fig.2, the line 6-6 of Fig. 5, and the line 1-1 of said Fig. 2.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein similarreference characters are employed throughout the several views todesignate similar portions of the illustrated wire support, it will beseen that said support is of unitary formation including a body or backIll,

wings I I issuing forwardly from said body at the sides thereof, and afront bar l2 connecting the wings II together. Constructed of suitablematerial, preferably porcelain or other electrical insulating material,the support is formed with two bores I3 therein extending through thewings II and body I6 thereof, said bores being countersunk at theforward faces of the wings I I. These bores I3 are provided to receiveanchoring screws (not shown) for securing the wire support to a wall,post or other supporting object with the body Ill backed against thesame.

The front bar I2, together with the immediately contiguous portions ofthe wings II and the corresponding portion of the body I0, form an eyea, the eye-opening in said eye being designated by the reference numeralI4. Offset from the eye a is a knob I 5 issuing forwardly from the bodyI0, said knob being sector-shaped in crosssection transversely of itsaxis. Said axis of said knob I5 and the axis of the eye a intersect atright angles to each other, said knob being symmetrically fanned outfrom the eye a, the far side of the knob I5 relative to said eye beingthe arcuate side of said knob. Said arcuate side of the knob I5overreaches the sides of the eyeopening I4 and is formed with a grooveI5 therein flatly to receive a parallel drop-wire as shown in Fig. 5,such wire being designated by the letter 73. This groove I6 is V-shapedin transverse cross-section to provide a grip along its side walls uponthe wire received within the groove, whereby any tendency of such Wireto slip or creep along the knob I5 Within said groove I6 is resisted.Further resisting any tendency of the Wire to slip or creep along saidgroove I6 are a plurality of anti-creeping ribs or fins I'I formed onthe side walls of the groove transversely thereof. These ribs I'I,biting into the insulating covering of the drop-wire, augment theanticreeping action of the side walls of the groove per se.

The eye-opening I4 is elongated axially thereof and laterally thereof,as well, said eye-opening at each end thereof being outwardly flaredsidewise of the support, the end of said eyeopening opposite the knob I5being also outwardly flared forwardly. This flaring of said eyeopeningI4 presents rounded, wire-engaging surfaces of substantial radii ofcurvature, whereby F sharp bending of a wire at the eye a of the supportis 'avoided.

With the wire support secured to a supporting object, the wire to beattached to said support is looped to form a bight. This bight isthreaded through the eye-opening I4 toward and past the knob l5 wherethe loop is expanded to receive one hand of the installer. Using thishand to manipulate the loop, the installer works the wire b through thesupport, into and out of the eye a thereof, While using the other handto take up the existing slack in the lead-in portion 2) of the wire.With such slack eliminated to the extent desired, the take-01f portion bof the wire is drawn taut to bring the loop 22 into conformity with thearcuate side of the knob l lodging said loop in the groove is with itsedges gripped by the side walls of said groove and indented by theanti-creeping ribs ll thereon.

To facilitate advancing the bight in a wire past the knob l5, after saidbight emerges from the eye-opening M, the end of said knob is beveled toslope forwardly from a point within the eye-opening I4 at the backthereof to the forward arcuate edge of said knob. This beveling of theend of the knob I5 provides a cam surface l8 which is engaged by thewire bight, said cam surface functioning effectively to direct the bightbeyond said knob into position where the loop may be readily grasped bythe installer, as and for the purpose above indicated. To keep the bightof the wire medially of the cam surface if! as it advances therealong,said surface is made concave from side to side thereof, as best seen inFig. 7.

The forward flaring of the eye-opening M at the end thereof opposite theknob 15, is more especially pronounced at the sides of said opening,whereby a central divider-rib i9 is provided, said divider-rib beingadvantageous in assisting the installer to keep the lead-in and take-offreaches of the wire apart.

With the take-off reach of the attached wire secure, said wire will havegenerally oppositely curved contact with the sides of the eye-opening l4and the loop of the bight in the wire will have non-creeping engagementwith the knob l5 in the roughened V-shaped groove 16 therein. Althoughreadily attached to the wire support, the wire is firmly held thereby,the efiectiveness of the grip between wire and support being such thatthe wire will break rather than slip or creep in said support, asrepeated tests have demonstrated. Due to this extremely effective gripbetween wire and support, no tie-wire or equivalent adjunct is requiredin the use of the present invention.

The wings H proper, together with extensions Ila thereon, reinforce thebody Iii. Said extensions, between which the knob I5 is disposed, guardsaid knob both before and after the installation of the wire support.The inner face I lb Thus, each Wing extension I la provides an abutmentpreventing the spreading of the wire loop and the loosening thereof onthe knob l5 whenever such tendency to spread exists as a result ofrelatively heavy tension on the lead-in reach of the wire and relativelylight tension on the take-off reach thereof, or vice versa.

Either end of my wire support, or either side thereof may be uppermostand, if desired, said support may be disposed horizontally on its back,or in any desired angular position between the vertical and thehorizontal. The lead-in portion of the supported wire may occupy eitherside of the support, the opposite side thereof being occupied by thetake-off portion of such wire. Ordinarily the take-01f portion of thesupported wire will lie approximately in the plane of the body or backID of the support, but in many installations, the lead-in portion ofsuch wire will be disposed at a substantial angle relative to the planeof the said body Ill. Thus, the device is installed without difficultyto meet any requirement with which the installer is confronted.

Changes in the specific form of my invention, as herein disclosed, maybe made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from thespirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted to be backed against a supporting object, wings issuing for-Wardly from said body at the sides thereof and reinforcing the same, afront bar connecting said wings together, said body, wings and barforming an eye for the threaded insertion through its opening of a bightin a wire to be supported, said wings and body having bores therethroughto receive screws for anchoring the support to the supporting object, aknob issuing from said body between said wings and guarded by thelatter, said knob being sector-shaped in cross-section transversely ofits axis and symmetrically fanned outwardly axially of said eye from apoint within the eye-opening, the arcuate portion of the knob at theperimeter thereof overreaching the sides of the eye-opening andproviding a bearing for the loop of said bight, said arcuate portionbeing formed with a groove V-shaped in transverse cross-section toreceive the wire of said loop, said groove being toothed at it sides toresist slippage of the wire therealong, the end of said knob beingbeveled and sloping forwardly from its near side relative to theeye-opening to provide a cam surface to be engaged by and to direct theloop past the knob, said cam surface being concave to guide and keepsaid loop centered relative to the sides of said knob, said eye-openingbeing elongated axially thereof and also sidewise toward said wings,both ends of said eye-opening being flared sidewise, the end of theeye-opening opposite said knob being also flared forwardly andpredominantly so at either side thereof to provide a medial divider-ribto assist in segregating the two reaches of the bight in the applicationof the wire to the support, said flaring of said eye-opening presentingrounded, wire-engaging surfaces of substantial radii of curvature toavoid sharp bending of the wire at the eye of the support.

2. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted .to be backed against and secured to a supporting object, saidsupport including an eye at the front of said body for the threadedinsertion through its opening of a bight in a wire to be supported, aknob issuing forwardly from said body, said knob being sector-shapedtransversely of its axis and symmetrically fanned outwardly axially ofsaid eye, the arcuate portion of the knob at the perimeter thereofoverreaching the sides of the eye-opening and providing a bearing forthe loop of. said bight at the far side of the knob relative to the eye,said arcuate portion being grooved to receive the wire of said loop,said groove being toothed to resist slippage of the wire therealong, theend of said knob being beveled and sloping forwardly from a localitysubstantially in line with the back of the eye-opening to provide a camsurface for directing the loop past the knob after said loop emergesfrom the eye, said cam surface being concave to center the advancingloop relative to said knob.

3. A unitary Wire support of insulating mate-.

rial consisting of a body adapted to be backed against and secured toasupporting object, said support including a circumferentially. closedeye at the front of said body for the threaded insertion through itsopening of a bight in a wire to be supported, a knob issuing forwardlyfrom said body adjacent said eye and transversely overreaching the sidesof the eye-opening, said knob being sector-shaped transversely of itsaxis and providing a bearing for the loop of said bight at the far s deof the knob relative to the eye, the end of said knob being beveled toslope forwardly from a locality substantially in line with the back ofthe eye-opening to provide a cam surface for directing the loop past theknob after said loop emerges from the eye.

4. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted to be backed against and secured to a supporting object, wingsissuing forwardly from said body at the sides thereof, a front barconnecting said wings together, said body, wings and bar forming an eyefor the threaded insertion through its opening of a bight in a wire tobe supported, a knob issuing from said body, the axis thereof being atright angles to and intersecting the axis of said eye, the far side ofsaid knob relative to said eye providing a bearing for the loop of saidbight, the eye-opening being elongated axially thereof and also sidewisetoward said wings, both ends of said eye-opening being flared sidewise,the end of the eye-opening opposite said knob being also flaredforwardly and predominantly so at either sid thereof to provide a medialdivider-rib to assist in segregating the two reaches of the bight in theapplication of the wire to the support, said flaring of said eye-openingpresenting rounded, wire-engaging surfaces of substantial radii ofcurvature to avoid shap bending of the wire at the eye of he support.

5. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted to be backed against a supporting object, wings issuingforwardly from said body at the sides thereof and reinforcing the same,a front bar connecting said wings together, said body, wings and barforming a circumferentially closed eye for the threaded insertionthrough its opening of a bight in a wire to be supported, a knob issuingfrom said body, said wings having extensions at pposite sides andprojecting forwardly of said knob to guard the same, said knob providinga bearing for the loop of said bight and said wing extensions providingabutments to prevent the spreading of the loop about said knob.

6. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted to be backed against and secured to a supporting object, saidsupport including a circumferentially closed eye of axially elongatedformation disposed forwardly of said body for the endwise threadedinsertion through its opening of a bight in a wire to be supported, aknob issuing forwardly from said body adjacent one end of said eye andtransversely overreaching the sides of the eye-opening, the axis of saidknob intersecting the axis of the eye, said knob being sector-shaped intransverse cross-section, its arcuate portion being at the far sidethereof relative to the eye, and the dimension of said portion axiallyof the knob being substantially the same as the diameter of theeye-onening from back to front, said arcuate portion of said knobproviding a bearing for the loop of the bight, the medial plane of saidbearing transversely of said knob coinciding with the axis of the eye,said eye at the near end thereof relative to said knob being flaredforwardly to facilitate the passage of the leading portion of the bightfrom the eye and past the knob to a position to be looped over saidbearing on said knob.

7. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted to be backed against and secured to a supporting object, wingsissuing forwardly from said body at the sides thereof, a front barconnecting said wings together, said body, wings and bar forming acircumferentially closed eye for the threaded insertion through itsopening of a bight in a wire to be supported, the eye-opening beingelongated axially thereof and also sidewise toward said wings, a knobissuing from said body adjacent said eye, the axis of said knob being atright angles to and intersecting the axis of said eye, the far side ofsaid knob relative to said eye providing a bearing for the loop of saidbight, the end of said eye-opening at the far side of the eye relativeto said knob being flared sidewise and forwardly to present a rounded,unbroken wire-engaging surface of substantial radius of curvature forcontact with the reaches of the wire leading to and taking-oif from saideye in every direction at an angle to the axis of said eye.

8. A unitary wire support of insulating material consisting of a bodyadapted to be secured to a supporting object, a circumferentially closedeye formed on said body for the endwise threaded insertion therethroughof a bight in a looped portion of a wire to be supported, a knob formedon said body adjacent said eye, the far side of said knob relative tothe eye providing a bearing for the loop of said bight, said knob havinga cam surface at its end intersected by the axis of the eye andangularly disposed relative thereto to direct the loop beyond the knobfor engagement with said bearing thereon.

EDWARD L. KLINGEL.

